The Riddle House – Haunted with Poltergeist Activity?

The Riddle House—located in West Palm Beach, Florida—is home to poltergeist activity, and a ghost who doesn’t like men. 

The Riddle House is a historic Victorian building.  It sits in Yesteryear Village, a virtual museum of a late 1900’s era Florida town.  There are 30 buildings in the 5-acre village, and all 30 homes have either been moved intact from their original historic sites, or reconstructed from blueprints.

Ghostly activity in the Riddle House is directed toward males visiting the house, and it has turned physical (according to witnesses).  Carpenter Steve Carr had a frightening experience in the home, and says “I’ll never go into the Riddle House again.”  Steve was doing construction work in a first-floor room when the lid from an iron pot lifted three feet off its base, flew across the room, and struck him in the head.  Steve never saw the lid, but a second man did, and dragged the unconscious Steve outside the house.

Since Steve’s encounter, male security staff and visitors are not allowed to go into the attic, which is a particularly active hotspot of paranormal activity.  The Riddle House ghost is thought to be a former male border who hung himself in the attic.  His image often appears in the north or west attic windows when people on the first floor look up into the attic.  The apparition is also seen on the lower floors, and walking the Village grounds.     

During a paranormal investigation in early 2003, one investigator saw the head and chest of a black-suited man against the north window with a noose around his neck and the end attached to an attic beam.  Paranormal investigators, psychics, and parapsychologists have all reported unusual activity in the attic, including orbs, unexplained temperature increases near the west window, streaks of energy, and EVP’s from a man who hung himself because he was blamed for financial wrongdoings he didn’t commit.

The Riddle House was originally called The Gate Keeper’s Cottage because it served as a funeral parlor and the owners managed a neighboring cemetery (at the home’s original site).  During the 1980’s, Riddle House served as a girl’s dormitory for Palm Beach Atlantic College.  Today, the home is owned by John Riddle.